


Stolen Moments

by deathwailart



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/F, Femslash February, Fluff, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-28
Updated: 2015-02-28
Packaged: 2018-03-15 16:11:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3453572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathwailart/pseuds/deathwailart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Perdita Shepard has a galaxy to save, Miranda Lawson has to find her sister and keep one step ahead of Cerberus.  If anyone's earned a little time to themselves in a private room on the Citadel, it's them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stolen Moments

In all the chaos since leaving Earth behind, Miranda hasn't been far from Perdita's thoughts but even trying to get the most basic of messages through involves almost tearing her hair out and the demands on her time have been constant. But she's thought about her, sometimes expecting to see her there when she opens the door to the office Liara has claimed as her own, the space transformed from a cosy place Perdita and Miranda could relax in when they didn't want to go up to Perdita's cabin. It's too dangerous to officially divert resources to search for Miranda, even if she's the person Perdita wants to see most but she knows that Liara is looking, her agents as discreet as they can possibly be given what Cerberus are up to now. It's been the source of more than one nightmare since the helmet came off a Cerberus trooper back on Mars and she knows that the Illusive Man takes everything she's done personally since she decided she was going to run the operation her way, that she wasn't going to give in, that she was still going to be the woman Miranda brought back from the dead. Miranda resigning the way she did puts an even higher price on her head and her father is still out there and this time, there's no Cerberus protection and no Perdita to help her. Not that Miranda needs it but she wants Miranda to have a life free of having to look over her shoulder.  
  
She's not expecting to see her when she steps off the dock at the Citadel and it takes everything in Perdita not to run to her and hold her close. They can't afford a scene or to draw too much attention to themselves because there are eyes everywhere and nowhere is safe. There's one stolen kiss in an alcove out of the way of most of the prying eyes although they're probably too distracted with their own problems at the moment to care about even Commander Shepard kissing her fugitive girlfriend. Miranda's gone and Perdita's done all she can to help her with her worries about her sister and the Reaper invasion commands her attention once again.  
  
It's not until after the coup that they see one another again and it's a damn projection, Perdita unable to help herself, reaching out only for her fingers to slip through the blue flickering that displays Miranda. There are promises to be safe that they both know they can't keep and she's read the dossier she hands over to Miranda, she's read all about Kai Leng and the fear is almost impossible to shake off, keeping her awake, catching her unawares when the bigger problems have been dealt with. She knows everyone can see that she's anxious and she's glad they're chalking it up to the stress of all of this but she can't get through to Miranda and in the end Chakwas has to take her aside to prescribe a sleeping aid that they both know will buy her an hour, maybe close to two if they're lucky, all thanks to just how good a job Miranda did when she brought her back.  
  
At last though, after weeks and weeks of hauling herself from one end of the galaxy to the other, trying to give them all the best chance that they can to fight the Reapers and win, to bring them all _hope_ , Miranda asks to meet her on the Citadel again, in private rooms. Miranda is as reluctant to divulge the details as ever but Perdita can't blame her, not when she knows Perdita would still try to find time to help her even with the fate of the galaxy depending on her. It's when she confesses her guilt after the resources are committed that she gathers her close for the first time in over six months, wishing it were under better circumstances even if happy was always going to be a stretch. At least she gets to hold Miranda and tell her that she loves her. She died once, she's lost friends and allies, she knows how few chances she might get to tell her that.  
  
"Almost wish we could close the blinds and just have what's left of today and tonight," she murmurs as she holds Miranda in her arms, chin on her shoulder, staring down at the Presidium below.  
  
"Slacking Perdita? I'm shocked," Miranda teases, turning just enough to kiss her, soft and sweet, everything that they've both been missing.  
  
"I wish you could come with me, I understand, you've got my full support but Miri-"  
  
"I know," she replies, sighing quietly as her hand squeezes the arm Perdita has around her, "I know. I want to be there with you too but we're where we're meant to be. How much safer would I really be if I was on the Normandy? Trading Kai Leng and my father for the Reapers and Cerberus?"  
  
"You wouldn't be, you'd just be with me."  
  
"Remind me what you've been up to lately?"  
  
It gets a laugh out of her and she's needed that badly too of late.  
  
"You'll stay safe, as safe as either of us can, right?"  
  
"Of course Perdita, same goes for you." It's not what either of them wants to hear, Perdita's sure of that but it's honest and it's hard to come by now, so many old lies coming to the surface and all the lies she has to tell everyone else and herself when she gets up in the morning. That it'll be okay. That they'll get through this. That there's going to be a tomorrow, no questions asked. "You know I've booked this room for a while and you were locked up there for six months..."  
  
"Miranda Lawson, are you suggesting I slack off on the job?"  
  
"If it's what I have in mind, I hardly think slacking off is going to describe it."  
  
Perdita gets the blinds just in time for Miranda's biotics to send her sprawling on the bed and yeah, maybe she's earned a few hours with the woman she loves before she heads back into the breach.


End file.
